British vision in Ghent

The Belgium city of Ghent celebrates all things British with a series of exhibitions, concerts, performances, readings and conferences which tie in with two centuries of British Art from 6 October 2007 until 13 January 2008. The main exhibition takes place in the newly renovated Museum of Fine Arts and promises to be the largest retrospective exhibition of British art organised in Europe in the last 30 to 40 years.

The collection has been drawn from the largest of British collections but has even sourced its exhibits from far-flung places such as the Yale Center of British Art in the USA. This imaginative overview of two centuries of British Art is a chance to see some of the most important British masterpieces – some of which have rarely left our shores. Art by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Constable, Turner, Bacon, Hockney, Epstein Freud and Moore all take their place in the Museum of Fine Arts.

The collection doesn’t limit itself to simply paintings but extends to early British photography, sculpture, drawings, printed work and books. Indeed the original manuscript from Alice in Wonderland is being taken from London on its first journey outside the British Museum since its acquisition in 1946.

The collation of such a vast array of British treasures has been a major feat and it’s probably true to say that it’s unlikely that such a great exhibition of British Art will be seen for many years again. All the more reason to take the opportunity to remind ourselves of what great contributions to art the British have given the world!

Fore more information, log on to Visitflanders.co.uk.